Torture
by MiaMellark0PeetaHG
Summary: This is a Clato fanfic about the two being put in a very tragic situation. District 2 has decided to hold a practice Hunger games. When Cato and Clove disagree to participate, the consequences are terrible for the two. Cato Hudley is of course Alexander Ludwig and Clove Sevina is Isabel Fuhrman. The story is set in District 2 three or so months before the 74th reaping.
1. Chapter 1

My eyes flutter open and I stare at the ceiling for a while. Cato's lying next to me and I know he's watching me. I don't look at him though. I'm still angry with him from yesterday. We were walking home from the training centre and it was quite late, about nine. The reaping is in less than three months so things are really starting to pick up during training. He was exhausted from his running session and I was pretty tired from my knife wielding. I was number one in my group and well, I don't like to brag but probably one of the best knife-throwers in the district. Cato hates when I talk about how good I am because of his extreme competitive attitude. That session my instructor had told me that I should start training younger future tributes because I'm so advanced, which was basically him saying 'You're better than everyone else,' or at least that's how I took it. I was so excited and of course walking home with Cato that evening was going to have to tell him. 'I just can't believe he thinks I should start training people! I mean, I know I'm one of the best in 2 but I didn't think I was THAT good!" At first, Cato said 'Good for you Clove.' In a monotone. Then as I kept going on about it, I could see him begin to tense up. "I'm just so excited I can't wait to tell everyone! Am I over reacting? It is a big deal, right Cato?"

"Yeah, sure." He said.

"Yeah, sure I'm overreacting or yeah sure it's a big deal?"

"Don't know." He replied

"You know, you could be more supportive. You don't really seem bothered abo-"

"Because I'm not."

"What's the matter with you today? Are you just tired?" I sighed.

"No. Nothing." He replied with that same monotone.

"Obviously something is up. Is it because my training-?"

"I don't really care Clove."

"Then why aren't you happy for me?"

"Because I don't give a shit! Okay? My combat trainer is always saying stuff like that to me, and I don't act like you're acting, all 'Oh I'm the best in the whole of 2, my trainer said so.' Jesus!"

"Well… just… just because you are jealous that I-"

"That you what Clove? Jealous that you what? I'm better than you. All right? Now suck it up and shut up." He said.

"You think you're better than me, really? Do you?"

"Oh I know I'm better than you." He started getting closer to me until his forehead was practically pressed against mine. His hands locked an iron grip around my wrists. "You're shorter than me for starters. Skinnier. And I'm a better fighter. I could break your neck in a split second with my hands tied behind my back before you'd even have reached for a knife. I'd win in the arena over you any day. So stop acting like you're so superior to me when in reality it's the other way around." He threw my arms out of his grasp and turned to walk away.

That really hurt me, that comment.

"So that's what you think about me, the girl you're supposed to love." I said. This pulled him up short. He knew that was a rude thing to say to me, even though we say harsher everyday.

He turned back around to face me. I then said,

"I hate you… because I love you so much that even when I hate you I want to kiss you." The look he gave me made me think he was going to punch me in the face, but instead, he grabbed my face in his hands and kissed me, hard. His huge hands grabbed my waist and pulled me into his body, making my back arch as he kissed me harder. His tongue shoved its way into my mouth so far back I thought I might gag on it. After about five minutes of trying to shake his grasp I managed to come up for air.

"Cato, stop it." I panted.

"No." He carried on kissing me.

I bit his tongue hard and he immediately stopped and grabbed his tongue with one hand.

"What the fuck was that for?" He said. I just shook my head and said, "I don't want you touching me. Not after what you said."

He just shook his head too, spat out a mouthful of blood and grabbed me again.

I am very strong but comparing me to Cato is like comparing a kitten to a bulldozer. No matter how much I tried to shake his grasp, I just couldn't. I tried pushing him away from me or screaming at him to stop, but it just made him more aggressive. After a number of attempts I gave up and kissed him back. We stood there for about ten minutes practically eating each other until a group of Peacekeepers walked past us. As soon as I heard the uniform march of their boots I pushed Cato away from me and smiled their way.

"What are you two doing out at this time?" One asked us.

"Oh, sorry. We were just-" Cato said.

"Going home. Minors should not be out past curfew." One of them said. We nodded, watched them walk away and waited until they were out of sight.

"Lets go back to mine." Cato said, pulling me with him as he started to walk in the direction of his house.

"Cato, I should go home." I said trying to back up.

"You're coming home with me, Clove. I need you." He said.

"You need me or you want me?" I said. He just turned to me and smiled. That sexy crooked smile that makes me angry and frustrated yet warm and excited at the same time.

Of course I went home with him and of course we had sex. We were so angry at each other that it made the sex even more heated and rough. Just how we like it.

I don't look at him even when he grabs my cheeks with his hand and pulls my face to the side. I shake him off and sit up straight.

"What?" He says.

"I really don't like you." I say but I still don't look at him.

"I don't like you either. But I love you." He says in a tacky voice.

This makes me smile. "I love you too."

Suddenly the doorbell rings. I hear Cato shuffle around and out of the corner of my eye see him sitting next to me. "Oh god. I hope that's not my parents." He says. His parents are very against Cato and I being together. They don't like me, at all. I don't really know why. He tells me it's because he left his ex-girlfriend for me, who his parents adored. But I think it's because they think I'm not good enough for him. On a number of occasions where I have tried to be nice or helpful towards them, they've been rude and said things like, "No, we don't need _you."_ Or "Stop trying you are embarrassing yourself." Cato was furious with them for being so rude to me and they had a massive argument, that I witnessed, which ended in them 'banning' him from seeing me, but of course that didn't work. Were pretty good at sneaking around.

The doorbell rings again. And again.

"I thought you said they were staying at the nut." I say looking down at my hands.

"That's not them. They have a key." He says. The doorbell rings again.

"Go and get it." He says. I look at him for the first time to see if he's joking or not but he's lying down with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. He's being serious, even though this is his house and not mine. I sigh, get up out of the bed and throw Cato's top on.

When I open the door I'm not sure who to expect, some one selling something maybe. But I'm greeted by our head peacekeeper, Malour.

I'm surprised at first and I don't know how to stand so I just fold my arms over my chest because I'm not wearing a bra.

"Hello Peacekeeper… Malour. H-how are you this morning?"

"Miss Sevina. I didn't expect to see you." He says.

"Yes. Urm, what… what was it you were looking to-for? Who… I mean." I stutter. He just looks at me with unblinking eyes.

"Master Hudley is expected to attend a meeting at the justice building this afternoon. I must inform him." He says. It's probably some meeting for only-Childs. They hold them to emphasis that it is harder to bring pride to you're family if you have no siblings, as there is less a chance of that family being reaped, so the importance of volunteering is bigger amongst only children. That means Cato.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll tell him." I say, trying to hurry the conversation up.

Malour nods once, turns to walk away and pulls a scroll out from him belt. I'm about to shut the door when he stops me.

"It appears, Miss Sevina that you are to report to the justice building as well."

I look at him quizzically. "Oh, really?" I say. He just nods again. "Have a good day." He says walking off. I shut the door behind him. So the meeting isn't about only children volunteering because I'm not an only child, I have an older sister. I don't know what it could be about? Maybe something for those who have high potential of winning the games?

I walk back upstairs and join Cato on the bed again.

"Who was that?" He said.

"Head peacekeeper, Malour. He came to tell you that we need to attend some meeting at the justice building this afternoon." I say.

"We?" He says.

"Yeah, he told me to tell you and then said that I needed to go as well."

Cato rolls on top of me, pushing me into a lying position. He props himself up with his hands and stares deeply into my eyes.

"You better give me my shirt back." He says, then lowers his head and bites the neck of the shirt and pulls it upwards. I push him off of me and stand up. I take the shirt off and chuck it at him. I forgot I'm still angry with him.

"Here, I don't want it anyway." My clothes are scattered all over the room so I start savaging around for them. I find my bra hanging from the doorknob and put it on. Cato's just sitting on the bed, staring at me. This annoys me for no particular.

"Can you stop?"

"What?" He acts so innocent.

"Stop staring at me it's making me feel uncomfortable." I say bending down to pick my underwear up off of the floor.

"Oh yeah. You're uncomfortable with me looking at you naked after I nearly fucked you to death last night." He says laughing.

"To death? Are you saying I'm weak?"

He nods. "I'm saying you can't handle my… aggression."

"Your aggression. You think I can't handle your aggression? After I was the one who only slept with you so I could hurt you?" I say.

"Hurt? Me? I'm surprised I didn't kill you last night."

"Well I'm surprised I didn't kill _you_ last night." I say matter-of-factly. "I wish I did." I say again.

"You wish you killed me? Do you really?" He says.

I shoot him a look that says 'Watch it.'

Cato and I have a very strange relationship. I hate him so much. But only because I love him more than anything in this world. He is a complete dick who I cannot stand a lot of the time, but he is my life. I love him so much that it hurts. I couldn't live without him, which is why I hate him. He ruined my life by entering it.


	2. Chapter 2

It's eerily quite. I don't like it. No one else is here in the justice hall except Cato and I. The lights are all off and the storm outside is picking up as I can hear the howl of the wind. "Where is everyone?" I say grabbing Cato's arm. He just shakes his head.

"Cato, what is going on? I thought there would be more people here." I'm whispering but I'm not quite sure why.

"It's well past one o'clock and Malour said be here in the afternoon." I say a bit louder but even then my voice bounces off the walls.

"Well, either we are really late or really early." He says.

I hope were not late. Punctuality is very important here in 2. Everyone is always on time if not a good half an hour early to everything. I've never been late for anything in my life. If someone (especially a peacekeeper or a person with authority) tells you to be somewhere at, for example five, you get there at 4:30.

I hope were not late. We stand there for a minute in silence listening to the storm outside. After a while, there's a loud clunking sound that makes me jump. The door at the side of the hall near the stage opens and a sliver of light lit the floor diagonally. I can see two chairs next to each other. There is another loud clank and the uniform march of footsteps. Ten or so peacekeepers in rows of two march through the door, climb the steps to the stage and stand around the perimeter. Peacekeeper Malour comes in a few seconds later and walks up to Cato and I who are standing in the middle of the hall.

"Clove Sevina, Cato Hudley, please sit." He says pointing to the two chairs. We quickly walk over to the chairs and sit. I don't let go of his arm.

Malour climbs onto the stage and stands in the middle. His voice is so loud it booms through the hall.

"I'm sure you are wondering why you were called here today." He says. I nod but I doubt he sees it.

"You are two of the twenty minors of the population of district 2 selected to undergo a very important… 'Experiment.'" He says.

"In order to increase the chances of winning as many games as possible, the Capitol have granted us permission to trial a Hunger Games stimulator, and you are two of the minors selected to participate. You may injure yourself but no one will die, of course. "

So that's what this is about. Because Cato and I are such great fighters they want us to do a 'practice' games of sort, so that we have a better chance of winning the games.

I put my hand up because I want to ask a question. It feels stupid putting my hand up because were not I school, but Malour has so much authority I feel like I'm in school.

"Urm, why is there no one else in here?" I say.

Malour paces the stage as he talks.

"Well, Miss Sevina, twenty of you with the highest chance of winning the games have been selected and we have separated you alphabetically, by forename and put you into pairs. The pairs will all participate the games separately to the other pairs, so you don't know who else has been chosen. Security reasons." He says.

I nod. It's because they don't want us knowing the others who have been selected. I don't know why us knowing could cause any harm. I'm quite curious to find out who else is best in the district but I guess I won't find out.

"So…" Cato says and it makes me jump.

"…What's the point of this? The chance of us being reaped isn't very high if you think about how many people there are in the whole district."

Malour nods and carries on pacing the stage.

"We are very aware of that, which is why the Capitol has allowed us to, 'rig' the reaping bowls." He says.

"So you mean one of us will definitely get picked?" I say.

"No. What I mean is we will put the twenty of your names in twice more than the average for a citizen of the district, depending on your age and gender. Miss Sevina, lets say the average number for a sixteen year-old girl is about seven, your name will be put in fourteen times. We are then going to mark every slip that has your names on. The pairs you are in will be marked with matching colours. For example, every slip that reads 'Cato Hudley' and 'Clove Sevina' will be marked with a small black line. So our escort knows if one is chosen they must choose the other with the corresponding colour. It's not definite they pick the same, but almost certain they will." He says.

"But, you can't do that." Cato says. "That means the odds are completely against us."

Malour sighs.  
"The Capitol has granted us permission." He says.

"Now, if you agree to participating we shall take you to the training center to further explain the procedure."

Cato and I look at each other for a minute.

"Wait, what exactly are we agreeing to?" I ask because he's not been very clear with what we are actually saying yes to.

"You are agreeing to participate in the stimulation games and increasing the chances of you and your pair being reaped." He says.

Cato and I look at each other again. So what he is saying is that if we agree to this, we will have to participate in a practice games. That's okay, I wouldn't mind doing that. It's just the fact that we are more likely to be reaped, and if we agree and are reaped, the other so Cato in my case will almost definitely be a tribute with me. I couldn't kill Cato. Being in the games with him, I'd sacrifice myself for him any day and I know he'd do the same for me. We may hate each other sometimes and say we want to kill each other but we never mean it.

"No." I say loud enough that every one can hear me. "I could never kill Cato."

Cato swivels in his chair to face me and puts his hands on mine.

"But Clove, they're not saying you have to kill me. Malour said no one would die." He says.

"Yes, but if we get reaped? I'd never kill you. Ever." I say.

"If we got reaped I'd just protect you." He says.

"I'd just protect _you_." I say.

He sighs and rubs his head with his hand.

"That wouldn't work." He says.

"So no. We don't want to do it." I say to the stage of peacekeepers.

Malour give me a cold glare.

"You know, an opportunity like this doesn't come around very often. Brining pride to your family and district is very important and should always be your number one priority."

I look down at my hands, which are wrapped in Cato's.

"No." I say again. "I'm sorry."

Cato strokes my hand with his thumb again and again.

I hear Malour sigh. "We've had a couple of you today, being difficult for selfish reasons. Very well then, if you do not agree. We have ways of dealing with selfish people like you." He says as his tone drops from almost sarcastic to dark.

The peacekeepers begin to file off either side of the stage. Malour stays standing in the middle.

The peacekeepers begin to march towards us. With every step I begin to worry and as they get closer I stand up and pull Cato up with me. We start to back away from the peacekeepers, who have complete poker faces. The four at the front raise their guns and shoot. Four little darts come shooting straight at us, but we manage to dodge them. They were tranquilizers I think.

Everything happens so suddenly. The peacekeepers get out their batons and load their guns with more little darts. Cato and I have a chance to practice our combat. I'm not too bad but again compared to Cato I'm crap. I kick one of the front peacekeepers helmets straight off of his head and he falls back with a gush of blood coming out of his nose. I then hook another one before he has chance to pull the trigger on his gun.

Cato seems to have taken out about seven with one kick and is now wrestling with one that has the gun trained on Cato's leg. I grab the gun out of his hand; point it at him while Cato keeps him in a headlock. I'm about to fire the tranquilizer dart when I feel someone grab me from behind. I'm slammed onto the floor and all the air gets knocked right out of me. Malour is kneeling above me with a syringe in his hand. I have just enough time to scream as he stabs the needle into chest and everything goes black.


	3. Chapter 3

When I open my eyes, the first thing I see is a blinding light. At first I think it's the sun, but then I realize that it's a lamp of some sort. I squint at it for a few minutes and try to sit up. The only trouble is I can't. I try to sit straight but can't. I feel a throbbing in my head and try to touch it with my hand but can't. I don't know why I can't move. I lift my head and open my eyes properly to see that my hands are being held down by metal restrains, one around each wrist. A little arch connected to the table that has the exact if not, not enough amount of space for my wrist. I then lift my head further to see the same restraints are around my feet. What's happening? Why am I being held down against my will? I look around the room frantically. It's small and rectangular with white walls and a dark blue door on one wall. Where am I? I don't recognize this place. What is happening? I try to retrace my footsteps to work out how I got here. 'I was in the justice hall in the justice building. We were at a meeting. It was afternoon.' That's all I can remember. What day was it? What day is it? How long have I been in here for? Why am I in here? Where is here? What is going on?

Suddenly I remember what happened before I went unconscious. We were in the justice hall with a group of peacekeepers that were telling us about that practice games they were going to trial. I remember disagreeing to participate and getting in a fight with the peacekeepers. Cato and I seemed to be holding them off pretty well but I guess they outnumbered us. Cato! I try to sit up fast but forget I'm restrained down and just lay in a frustrated position. I hope he's all right! Where is he? What happened to him? What is happening to him? I have so many unanswered questions, but at least one of them has been answered. I'm in this room probably because I didn't agree to participating and for fighting with peacekeepers. I'm not sure why they have me restrained but they want me for that reason.

About ten or so minutes pass and nothing happens. I lay restrained on what seems to be a table, getting restless and trying to break free of the restrains by shaking my body and limbs around. Of course that does not work. I'm so frustrated that I can't get out of these I think I may cry, but I don't. They will never break me to tears. I would never forgive myself if they did.

Another half an hour or more goes by and still nothing happens. The room is eerily quiet, so I decide to disrupt this and draw attention to myself by screaming at the top of my lungs until my throat is red sore. Nothing.

When my lungs and throat can't take anymore I just lay there, motionless and soundless. Waiting for something to happen. And something does happen.

Two people in doctor's frocks and masks come in, followed by two men in black peacekeeper uniforms. They all gather around me and I don't know what to do or say. My throat is too sore to speak, so I just lay there waiting for them to do something. I don't know what to expect, but what happens is not what I thought would. The doctors unzip the jumper I am wearing and cut with a pair of long scissors the top I'm wearing right down the middle. They then cut the crotch of my trousers down the middle too. I'm not sure what is happening but I don't like it. I toss my body around in an attempt to make them stop. It doesn't work though. One of the peacekeepers just presses down on my stomach with so much pressure that every time I move around it hurts. Because of this and the inability to now move I try screaming again, but not much sound comes out of me. I sound like an avox laughing airily and it does not affect the four men in anyway. One of the doctors then cuts my bra right down the middle and I try my hardest, to stop them taking it off, by brining my shoulders closer together, but this does not make them stop. Instead, they get out metal clubs and whack me round the face twice opening gashes in my cheeks. They do this a number of times and then one peacekeeper grabs out some sort of metal stick with a sharp rounded end. It looks sort of like a huge metal pencil. They stab the end that looks like the pencil head right In-between my two breasts. It goes all the way in and I try to scream because the pain is so horrific I think I might pass out. He then drags the metal stick down toward my belly button, leaving a long, thick bloody line of raw flesh in its path. This time I manage to scream even thought it's almost in audible. One doctor then cuts my panties in half and I start to feel dizzy. My chest is stinging like hell and my cheeks are burning they hurt so bad, I hardly even notice one of the peacekeepers inside me. They're raping me. I want to fight and scream and thrash around or even just close my legs to try and prevent them from doing this but I can't. I'm unable to move. I can't even wriggle my fingers. All the effort has been wiped right out of me and all I can do now is watch in disgust as the four men force themselves inside me.

When the last doctor pulls out for the last time, I realize I must look like I'm about to cry because he says, "Don't worry little girl. At least we didn't take your virginity." Then they all laugh.

I stare them down one by one and make sure I'm looking angry not sad.

"Don't worry doctor. At least you weren't very big." I say and my voice is surprisingly clearer then I thought it would be. This makes the other three laugh and I give a smug smile in their direction. "And I've had better. Much better. You were probably so crap because you wanted to finish quick. Very quick." I say and the three laugh again. Of course I'm aiming this at all of them.

"What shall we do with you then huh? Never has someone ever talked like that after we've done this to them." He says pretending he's concerned that something is wrong with me. When in reality, it's the other way around. Cato said that to me the other day, when he said he was superior to me. He was joking of course, but I didn't like what he said.

"Cato." I say and don't realize I said it out loud until the four men laugh again.

"Do you want to see your boyfriend?" They say in a stupid voice.

I move my legs around trying to kick them unsuccessfully.

"Where is he?!" I yell at them. They just stand there laughing and shaking their heads.

"WHERE IS HE?!" I yell louder and it shocks them. One of the peacekeepers walks around to the wall left of me and grabs two handles at the bottom of the wall. He then pulls them up to reveal a sheet of glass separating me from another room just like this one with Cato inside restrained to a table.

"Cato! CATO!" I scream but he doesn't budge. His eyes are shut but I know he's alive because his chest is moving up and down. I also notice a peacekeeper standing above his head and a woman straddling his waist. They don't seem to notice me either, so I'm guessing the glass is soundproof. The woman begins to inch her way down Cato's body and stops at his groin.

"CATO!" I scream again and again with no reply.

She is going to rape him as well. She fiddles with his zipper on his trousers and cuts his boxers with the same long scissors they used to cut my clothes off. She then starts moving her hips against him and I turn away because I can't stand to look at someone else forcing Cato into them. I stare down at my body, bare and covered in the men's liquid, and notice something strange. The long line they carved into my chest is bleeding a lot and little horizontal streams of blood flow from the wound down to the table where I lay and are beginning to form a tiny pool around me. I count seven 'streams' on the right hand side and '9' on the left. It makes me look like a bloody skeleton or someone with protruding red ribs. I squeeze my eyes shut because the sight of the wound starts to make me feel dizzy.

When I first feel the drops of water on my head I think they are to clean up the mess they left on my body. I could not be more wrong. They slap down a soaking wet towel over my face and force my mouth open slightly. I know what's happening. They are going to use water boarding on me. I've read about this before. It stimulates drowning, which I sort of fear. One of the worst ways to die for me would be drowning. Just the fact that you are trapped somewhere absolutely desperate for air which you will never get and for a long time you are in pain as you feel your lungs close and choke on the water. That's why I jerk around like crazy when they pour the what seems to be endless amount if water onto the cloth. I can't breath and I can't see. I hate this! My lungs feel like they have shriveled up into tiny sacks smaller than a pea and the more I struggle the more I desperately long for a single breath of air.

They remove the cloth and I lift my head to breathe, choking and spluttering all over the place.

I feel my head being forced back down and I try to hold in all the oxygen my lungs carry. The cloth is slapped back down on my face and I can't breath or see again.

For the first few minutes I'm thrashing around like crazy and I want to scream and cry because I need air so badly, but after I while I start to calm down and feel less urgency. I stop struggling and begin to feel lightheaded. The voices around the room slow down and a high-pitched hum eventually takes over. I'm guessing this is what dying feels like. Just as I think I'm about to exit this world forever, the cloth is taken away from my face and I breathe in so fast I feel like I might throw up, but I don't know how that makes sense. My breathing is so rapid it makes me feel dizzier than I did when I couldn't breath.

They do this to me three more times and then take the cloth off my face for the last time and leave me lying on the table in a spluttering shivering mess. I'm confused and tired.

Why are they doing this to me? What are they achieving by torturing me? I look over at Cato who looks as though he's sleeping. A trickle of blood falls from his nose down but other than that he seems to be pretty untouched. I'm sure they've done more than just that to him though. I don't even want to think about what has happened to him.

"Cato…" I say but even I can't hear myself. My chest is stinging and there's a throbbing pain in between my legs. I'm so confused and tired. So tired.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day isn't any better. I'm beaten and cut and raped and scarred all over the place. They took off the restraints when I was sleeping, moved me into a different room and handcuffed and chained me to a pillar. It's better than being restrained on the table at least.

The only problem is I keep getting myself punished more. Because my legs and body are free I kick anyone who comes near me and that normally leads to them tasering me and I get beaten more. Between every punch or stab they always ask me 'Are you ready to change your mind?' I reply by trying to hurt them back or just shaking my head. I will never give in, they will never break me. I do feel very weak after all the abuse. There is blood splattered everywhere. A pool surrounds me and the pillar and streak after streak splattered up the wall. My skin is raw, bleeding and aching. Big purple bruises have started to show up and every time I look at one I feel a throbbing pain. I wonder if I've been given some sort of STI from one of the many men that have used me as their sex slave.

The door opens and a peacekeeper in a white uniform comes in. The ones in black are the guards. He looks at me with sarcastic sympathy.

"Awh. Have you had enough sweetie?" He says coming very close to my face.

I work up a mouthful of saliva and blood and spit, aiming for his eye.

"You can't break me." I say back to him. He wipes he's face with his sleeve angrily then gets up and gets out his carver. That's what I call the long metal pencil thing they use on me because they carve things into my skin.

"Alright then." He says lifting me up by the neck of my top.

"Hope you like tattoos." He pushes me onto the ground and sits below my lower abdomen, keeping me legs down with his and holding my arms back with one of his hands. He then yanks up my top and sticks the carver into the side of my stomach. I scream out in pain as he drags it through my skin. It feels like someone is ripping my skin into little pieces and burning the new flesh that's underneath. He does this for a long time and then stops. I stop screaming despite the fact that the pain hasn't stopped with him.

"You like that? I think it's pretty good to be fair." He says wiping the blood off my skin with his sleeve. It's stinging so badly it feels like jumping into a pool of salt and lemon juice covered in cuts. I look down at my side and see he has carved a big '2' into my flesh. 2 for district 2 of course, as if labelling me as property that belongs to the district.

"Let's colour it in red shall we?" He says sticking the carver in again and colouring the 2 in. I scream in constant pain and long for it to stop. It is excruciating and ongoing. Right now I'd rather die then go through this any longer. I know he is not going to stop until the whole 2 is coloured in, so I do what any other normal 16 year old girl would do if she was in constant horrific pain for hours on end. I cry. The tears start rolling down my face slowly to start off with, but begin to gush out like a waterfall. I wail out for him to stop, even say 'please.' My screaming and crying mixes together to form an unpleasant chorus of sorrow and pain. After what seems like forever he stops.

"My masterpiece finished." He says, getting up and admiring the carving he has just made. I carry on crying. The pain hasn't stopped. It's not as bad but still unbearable and I wonder if it will ever stop.

"So. Have you changed your mind?" He says. I lightly shake my head and carry on crying. He knows I'm not going to stop so he walks out of the room, closing the door behind him.

I lay in the ever-growing pool of ruby red blood around me, sobbing my eyes out. The pain is so terrible all I want is for it to end. I want to die if this is how I'm going to spend the rest of my time, locked up in this room being tortured because I didn't agree to something.

They broke me to tears, and I can't believe it. I hate myself and the fact I couldn't stay strong against them. They haven't broken me completely yet. I've still not given in to agreeing, and I never will. They can torture me all they like and make me cry. But they will never make me change my mind or my decision. I look down at the 2 engraved on me side. It goes all the way from my ribs to my trouser line. It's covered in blood but underneath I can see the lines forming the directions he 'coloured' in. Like when you colour something in with a marker the lines where you switched direction are obvious,just as they are on my skin. He didn't miss a single line of flesh.

After about an hour or so my stomach begins to rumble. They are force feeding and drinking me because they don't want me to die from starvation or de hydration as they know that I won't eat if just 'given' food. I'm hungry now, but they fed me a few hours ago.

A guard comes in, walks over to me and punches me in the nose. It starts to bleed. He then asks me if I want to change my mind and agree to participate. I say no and he punches me in the arms. He grabs the skin from my thighs and squeezes it so tight that it burns and I scream. He then let's go, punches them and my stomach. A few peacekeepers come in with studded clubs and I try to keep them away by kicking around and crawling away from them, but they taser me and whack me with the clubs. I see my blood splatter, adding to the already painted in red walls. It hurts so much. I start crying again. The pain is so horrific that I can't handle it, but when they ask me if I've changed my mind I still answer with no.

I can tell they're getting frustrated with me and the fact that I won't break. I won't. Ever. But when they haul Cato's emaciated still breathing body into the room, I start to panic. They can't break me by torturing me, but could they by torturing someone I loved? No. They can't. But as they begin to beat Cato I realise I'm not strong enough to watch this. One of the guards takes the metal studded club and hits him right in the stomach, opening a huge bleeding gash that makes me feel sick to look at. I run towards him preparing to cause serious pain to those peacekeepers, but the chain jerks me back and I fall straight on my tailbone. They carry on hitting him with the clubs until all the colour drains from his body and he slumps to the floor in a lifeless bloody pile.

I'm crying like crazy and screaming my head off the whole while and only stop when one of the peacekeepers says, "He's not dead, stop all the fucking screaming!" He looks dead, but I can see the rise and fall of his back as he breathes. I try to get closer to him but the chain I'm attached to will stretch in about a three meter radius and he is a bit more than a meter away from me.

"Cato?" I say in a shaky voice. I let out a long cry and drop to the floor to try and find his eyes, but they are hidden behind his arms.

"Cato, please!" I cry. I desperately want to kiss and hug him and stroke his hair but I can't get close enough. He doesn't reply for a long time. I sit their watching as the tiny occasional breeze coming from an air vent somewhere makes his hair sway slightly. It is so calming to watch something normal like this happen. It really calms me down. I stop crying and take deep breathes, eyes fixated on his hair. I stay like this for a long time until Cato finally says, "Clove. Are you alright?" This makes me laugh because he is the one dying on the floor. "No, but I'm better then you at the moment." He raises his head a little bit to reveal a blood smeared but beautiful face.

"They can't hurt you." He says to me. I wish he was true. Normally I'd think what he's saying is true and that they could hurt me physically but never mentally. Now though I know it's not true. I've been crying all day about everything. About pain and my family and my life and loved ones. They have hurt me mentally because right now I'm so emotionally unstable every little thing will set me off crying. All I say to Cato in response is, "They already have."

Nothing else happens that day. Cato and I sit there, hurting and just staring at each other taking in every little feature. I notice things about him I haven't before. His blue irises, lighter near the pupil and darker towards the outside, his light blonde eyebrows that curve ever so slightly at the end, the slight dent on both sides of his nose just above his nostrils, the sharp edge of his jawline, the large curve of his biceps, the small veins popping up from his arms and hands. He is studying me as well and when our eyes lock I hold his gaze. For a long time we are just staring into each other's eyes, then he tries to move closer to me. I do the same and just as our lips are about to touch, were both jerked backwards. I try to reach out and touch his face but my handcuffs are connected to the chain and I can't reach him. We are literally less than an arms length away from each other and it is so frustrating that we can't touch. I pull against the chain again and again, trying to shake it loose but I know it's hopeless. I give up, slump to the ground and cry.

Today, I think, is the most I've ever cried in my whole life. They really have damaged me.

"I can't get any closer. It's so frustrating! These chains are so fucking annoying!" I say kicking at the chain.

"Clove, stop. It's alright." He says and his tone is so calm. I can't stop though. I'm sobbing uncontrollably and the more I think about calming down the more annoyed it makes me and the more I cry.

"I'm so sorry Cato." I cry.

"Sorry for what?" He says.

"I'm the one who disagreed. You wanted to take part and I'm the one who said no and you wouldn't be here if it weren't for me!" I say but all of my words sort of slur together. He seems to understand what I said though.

"No, I disagreed as well! We both decided that it wouldn't work if we got reaped together, and I don't regret making that decision. Don't blame yourself it's not your fault. And don't give in to them. Ever." He says and it calms me down a bit. I won't give in, Ever. That's what they want and that's what they will never get.

"Why are they so adamant on us taking part any way?" I sway wiping my nose with my sleeve.

Cato shrugs.

"They want to win everything. And people aren't supposed to disagree with the Capitol or authority, that kind of thing doesn't go unpunished." He says. Ive certainly had enough punishing for a lifetime. All I want now is to leave this place. And get back to my normal life. Go back to school and training, see my friends and my family. Then I think of something that never crossed my mind before.

"Do our parents know were here?" I say. Surely they must think were somewhere in the district and are going crazy searching for us, because I can bet you no one has told them we are being tortured.

"Let's hope they don't. Don't think about it." He says.

I nod but can't help thinking about it. They must be so worried. I want to tell them that I'm here with Cato, and I'm ok. Hurting, bruised, unstable and bleeding to death but other than that ok.

"You should sleep." Cato says.

"Yeah, you too." I say.

He shakes his head. "I need to clear my head. Sleeping and dreaming just messes up my thoughts." He says.

I lay down with my head on my hands.

"I really love you," I say, "and it killed me to see them doing that to you."

I stare at my wrists, bloody from the too tight handcuffs digging into me, to drown out the images of him being beaten.

"I love you too. And it kills me to think all those guys raped you." He says and I look up at him. His hands are clenched into fists and his eyes have that far off angry look that he gets when he wants to hurt someone.

"How did you know that?" I say because I didn't know he knew that.

"They made me watch. I just..." He says but can't finish his sentence. He puts his face in his hands and growls I think. I want to stroke his hair and hug him and kiss him but I can't.

"It's ok." Is all I manage to say.

He moves his hands from his face and says, "No it's not. I tried to stop them. I even broke out of my restraints, but they outnumbered me. I have to protect you from things like this!" He shouts.

"Cato, you don't need to protect me." I say.

"Yes I do! You have to protect the ones you love and I love more than anything or anyone and I just..."

He puts his face in his hands again.

He loves me more than anyone. He couldn't stand to see me in pain, so much that he broke out of those metal restraints. That makes me feel happy and a smile creeps on my face.

"Go to sleep." He says.

"Okay." I say and I let my eye lids slide shut. I think about my life with Cato, our strange relationship. The way we fight and hurt each other with out really thinking about it but at the same time we'd rather die then see each other in pain caused by someone else. It doesn't really make sense, but we love each other more than anything and I guess that's all that matters. I wonder how our future will play out. Hopefully well have kids one day. Cato would make a pretty good dad, just as long as he works on his patients.

I know that with Cato still breathing and by my side, I can get through this. I can get through anything.


	5. Chapter 5

It's another horrible day of constant beating and watching all the life sucked out of Cato. Quite literally. Two or three women peacekeepers use him as a sex slave. They're making me watch him being tortured and at the same time are making him watch me being tortured. When one guard nearly impales me with his length Cato goes crazy. He wraps the chain around one of the peacekeepers necks and nearly strangles him to death, but some guards come in and taser him. With a lot of effort they manage to hold his eyes open so he is forced to watch. They do this to me as well and in a way it makes the pain worse, knowing someone else is feeling it too.

The amount of blood in the room has increased. There is barely any white in sight on the walls and the floor is now a sheet of crispy dried blood. The metallic smell was putrefying to start with, but as time went on my nose got used to it. I don't really notice it any more.

There are now massive blue and purple bruises on the entire of my thighs which got the worst of it, crawling up to my crotch, my legs and arms are dotted with bruises, my face and the skin on my stomach and back have turned a bluish black colour. The 2 that was carved into my side is a deep red colour and a crusty scab is beginning to form over it. The line in my chest has also crusted over but the pieces of scab keep flaking off. They ask us frequently if we have changed our minds and I have been so tempted to say yes so many times but haven't given in yet. I always keep wondering when they will let us go, or kill us, realize it's hopeless and let us return to normalcy or death. I'm hoping it's soon because I don't know how much longer either of us can stand of this. The doctors come in with long tubes and packets of mush and water. One comes up to me and the other to Cato and they ram the tube down my throat. I try to fight it by kicking them and thrashing around but only end up gagging as they shove the mush down the tube. Next the water is poured down but that's less uncomfortable. When all the mush and water is inside Cato and I the doctors collect the empty plastic bags and the tubes and leave.

"How long do you think this will go on for?" I say to Cato who's panting from all the gagging.

"However long it takes for us to give in." He says.

"But we'll never give in." I say.

"Then there's the answer to your question." He says. I shake my head.

"They can't keep us in here forever, especially not near the reaping." I say.

"I guess not. If one of us gets reaped then they'd have to let us out." He says.

"But if we don't get reaped? Well I guess they'd have to let us into the square on reaping day." I say, answering my own question.

Cato fiddles around with his handcuffs for a while.

"What will you do after school? If you aren't ever reaped." He says.

"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it." I say. I have no idea what I'm going to do once I'm 18. No more training for the games, no more school. I will have to make money somehow just incase I'm not reaped. Most people either become peacekeepers or follow in their parent's footsteps. If I were to follow my mother I would be selling my body to the citizens and peacekeepers of 2 for a living. Many people in the district make money from prostitution and some of the wealthiest district residence besides those who live in the victors village are prostitutes. I don't want to be one of them. I'd rather work as a trainer, specializing in knife or sharp object wielding. That would be an ideal job for me.

"What about you?" I ask and am genuinely curious because I have no clue what he wants to do next year. Cato's a year older than me so he has less time to think above these sorts of things than I do.

"No idea." He sighs. "We might not ever get out of this." He says grimly and all the hope of a successful future is washed away.

"I hope we do get out." I say. We sit there in silence for while. I can hear the steady huff of Cato's breathing. It sounds perfectly in time to my pulse. It sounds so nice. For a minute I close my eyes and imagine running through a field in the warm summer rain holding Cato's hand. His breathing is fast and so is my heartbeat. We are so free with no limits and we can run as far as our feet will carry us. Being free. The fantasy in my head is disrupted when the door swings open and two doctors come in.

"Have you changed your mind yet?" They say to Cato and I.

"No. You might as well give up we are not changing our minds." Cato says.

The doctors shrug and one grabs my arm and jabs a long needle into it. It hurts because I jerk my arm just as he presses down on the syringe and the needle drags a little bit. Almost instantly I start to feel dizzy and lightheaded. The room starts to spin and I can see Cato trying to hold onto the ground.

"Clove!" He yells.

"Clove… don't. Clove…"

I try to get up but just slam back onto the ground.

I'm facing the ceiling and I can see little specks of blood and wonder how they got up there. The specks then begin to drip down onto me. One drop falls into my mouth and I spit it out. It then starts dripping more and more and my mouth fills with the blood. I want to move, get up or something but I can't. I'm too dizzy to even close my mouth. More blood drips and I start to choke on it. It fills up and starts to overflow out of the sides of my lips. I can't breath. More specks start to drip and one drops on my eye. They start to fill my eyes and the ceiling goes completely red, and then white.

I'm running with Cato again. His breathing matches my heart rate. But this time it's through a forest. The trees twist in cruelly sharp fingers and the floor is a black sheet of dust. The sky is almost black and thick grey fog replaces the rain. There are loud shrieks coming from the woodland animals scattered everywhere. We are running from something. Cato keeps looking behind his shoulder. I don't know what it is we are running from but we don't stop. Not until I trip over a branch and fall on Cato's legs, brining him down with me. We try to get up but can't see through the fog and keep on falling over our own feet. Suddenly, all of the fog begins to clear and the animals fall silent. I'm on my hands and feet looking around to try and find what triggered this sudden change in atmosphere. Cato is doing the same. There is a chorus of screams from the animals and far off in the distance. I turn around to face the direction of screams that crescendo towards us. They get so loud I have to cover my ears to hush the volume. Then, as if out of nowhere a large black figure appears. It looks like the grim reaper. It floats, not walks, over to Cato and I. Just looking at it makes me shake with fear. It starts to descend on us and I don't know what to do so I scream. It has no face. It comes so close to me and I can see right inside its hood. There is nothing but black, but as it gets even closer two white dots making up eyes and a hugely curved yellow mouth come straight at me. It laughs a low, evil sound. The mouth opens and engulfs me into a dark world where I am falling surrounded by black fog. Falling… falling…down…down…down.

I stop suddenly, frozen in mid air. There is nothing but black fog surrounding me. After a while, I hear a faint sound of music. It sounds like a music box playing. Then I see the music box and it comes floating closer and it moves around me, playing a song that is very familiar. Then I hear a voice begin to sing. It's a child's voice and it sounds like a little girl.

Here she comes across the bay,

Here to take the light away,

Searching for the ones she's lost,

But only finds a path she crossed.

This path lead her to a dark place,

It drew her in and all her grace

Was swept away with the air,

And oh, poor she was left so bare.

Torn at the seams she begged them so,

'Please, have mercy, let me go,'

But they were not so merciful,

'No, goodbye my beautiful.'

And so she comes across the bay,

To haunt those standing in her way,

The path it did seem oh so glee,

But only spawn the haunting she.

It's a song some people sing in the district sometimes while working called 'The Haunting She.' Almost everyone knows it.

The story is about an evil spirit coming to haunt the old town she lived in. When she gets there she comes across a place where her life went wrong. She made a bad decision by accident. It drew her in and she thought it was a good idea to begin with, but eventually it ruined her. Tore her life into little unfixable pieces. She prayed from her old life back but didn't get it. Instead she was turned into an evil spirit and she haunts the people of her town. It was a song written to show the districts what can happen to you if you rebel. It's sort of a metaphor suggesting that the haunting she was a rebel that thought rebelling was a good idea but ended up losing everything because of the war, and no matter how she tried to change her ways she has to live with the consciences of revolting against the Capitol.

The music loops again and again and I see another figure start to float towards me. It's the little girl who is singing the song. She is dressed in a white gown. As she gets closer I can see the red staining the neck of her dress and around her mouth. It is blood. She floats closer and closer to me and I can make out the black toothless smile stretched across her face and her eyes, pupils dilated so much they appear black too. Closer and closer she gets until I can almost smell the blood but right as she's about an arms length away from my feet she disappears in a cloud of smoke. I turn my head from side to side, wondering where she's gone. A while passes and nothing happens. The music box floats away into the distance, taking the song with it. It grows quieter and quieter and eventually comes to a stop. Silence. I hear nothing, not even my own breathing.

All of a sudden the little girl is above me, so close to my face we are almost touching. I scream and so does she. Her mouth that was stretched into a smile remains smiling but widens. So far that I can see right into it. She has no teeth but bloody gums line the inside of her mouth. Her eyes are two black holes almost quaking as she screams. She looks as though she is a twisted possessed child, laughing her head off although she remains almost still.

Suddenly I'm falling again. Down into the black fog, not knowing where the creepy little girl has gone.

I hit the ground with such force, but it does not hurt. I'm in a room. A small dark room, only a sliver of light peaks through from somewhere. I hear footsteps coming. They echo through the enclosed walls and boom through my ears making me panic. They get closer and faster every second. A door swings open but no one comes in. Light illuminates from outside onto the back wall of the room. Still no one is to be seen.

For a while nothing else happens. Then, I see the slow growth of a black shadow on the wall. It creeps up to about my height and I can see that it is a woman, because of its long hair and even though the shadow is very distorted the figure is too feminine to be a male. There is the faint sound of crying and I think it is the shadow. I want to say something to stop her crying but I don't know what to say. I don't know what's going on. She cries for a long time and I stand there staring at the distorted shadow not knowing what to do. After a while she stops. She screams and it shocks me so much I back up against the opposite wall.

"BEHIND YOU!" I hear her scream and I immediately turn around to face behind me. What I see is quite strange but terrifying. A huge shadow in the shape of a distorted man with long curling fingers lies on the wall I was back up against. He laughs. A low cackle that twists my stomach. I stare, helpless as he grows bigger and bigger. The woman shadow has now disappeared and it's just me. I fall to the floor watching the shadow grow. He spreads to every wall in the room and covers the floor and the ceiling. His colour darkens and he becomes blacker and blacker and blacker until the whole room is pitch black. The laughing doesn't stop. All of a sudden water starts to pour in from nowhere. I can't see it but I can feel it. It rapidly builds up and before I know it I'm treading trying to keep my head above it. I can't see anything and it's horrible. In no time the room is completely filled with water and I try to search around for some air, but there is none. My lungs are beginning to shrive up again and it hurts. I feel the ceiling of the room and begin to push against it. Nothing happens. I know there is no use trying but I pound it with my fists again and again. I start to feel lightheaded again and know this time there is no escaping. I am drowning. The last thing I see is a pair of yellow, unblinking eyes staring me down until I scream into the pitch-black water.

My eyes fling open and I start breathing rapidly. I sit up straight so fast all the blood starts rushing to my head. I look around frantically.

Cato is lying on the floor, eyes open and alive. We are in the cell that we've been in for the past few days. I start to breath slower. There is no water around me.

Was all of that just a dream? More like a nightmare. That dark dreary creepy world where shadows cry and little girls scream. I remember they injected me with something before the blood choked me to unconsciousness. I guess the blood dripping was all hallucinating because now I look at the ceiling there is no red at all.

"What happened?" I say to Cato.

"They injected us with something. I guess it plays with your mind." He says sitting himself up.

"So, you weren't running with me away from that… thing?" I say.

He shakes his head. "No. And you weren't rotting in those gallows?"

"No." I say. "What happened? What did you…dream?" I say.

"Well, I was alone in a house that looked like mine back in 2. It was eerily quiet. I was looking for you but couldn't find you. Then I saw some gallows down the hall, which was strange. I walked over to them and there you were. Hanging dead. It really freaked me out. Your eyes were open and your skin was so pale. I didn't know what to do. Then there was a storm and the lights kept flickering and every time they were on you'd moved somewhere different in the room. That happened for ages." He says.

"So, anything after that?" I say.

He shakes his head again. "Well, I saw a creepy man holding the rope you hung from. He said 'You're next.' And that's all."

I nod. That's horrible. I'm sure it was horrible for Cato to dream about me lifeless and scary hanging from a rope.

"What about you?" He says.

I take a deep breath to start.

"You and I were running in this creepy woods away from this hooded figure with no face. We fell and he like… swallowed me sort of. I was then falling for a long time. When I stopped in mid air a music box started playing that song, you know Haunted She?" I say.

"Oh yeah, I hate that song." He says.

"Yeah, so then this little girl came floating up singing the song and she was all bloody and possessed looking. She came right up close to my face and started screaming. Then I kept falling and landed in a room. This shadow of a lady stated crying and then another shadow of a man started laughing. He grew bigger and bigger then the room started filling with water, and I drowned." I say.

"That's nice." Cato says. "I wonder what they injected us with."  
"I don't know but it was strong and horrible." I say.

I hear a rumble of feet pass us and look towards the door to see something strange.

It is wide open with no guards standing by it.


	6. Chapter 6

I blink a couple of times to make sure I'm seeing this properly.

The door is wide, wide open. An open door! With no guards standing anywhere near. That means Cato and I can ultimately try to get out of here. I look at Cato who is thinking the same thing I am. It's a clear path to our escape. All except for one thing. Our cuffs and the chain holding us back.

"What do we do?" I say yanking at the chain.

"Let's get out of here." Cato says.

"But we cant! We are stuck!" I say.

He looks at me struggling with the handcuffs and says, "Oh yeah. I forgot about that."

How are we ever going to get out I here with these chains keeping is so trapped? I rack my brain for ideas. If only I had a knife I could try to cut through the cuffs. The cuffs are connected at the middle by a small chain, and the big chain restraining us to nowhere far from the pillar is attached to the middle smaller chain. If I could just cut through the smaller one the large one would slide off and we would be fine. I don't know where I could possibly find a knife in here though but when a guard comes in to 'check on us' I get an idea of where I can find one.

There, in the guards black belt is a small, shinny dagger. I could easily use that to cut free of these restraints. I need to tell Cato so while the guard goes out to get some tasers I whisper.

"Cato!" I hiss at him.

"What?" He hisses back.

"I need that dagger from that guards belt. I can cut through the cuffs if we get it somehow." I say and anticipation immediately registers on his face.

"Right," he says, and I can hear the padding of the guard's footsteps. "I'll distract him and you grab it."

I nod.

"Follow my lead." he says again. The guard walks in with a taser in his hand. I try to look him in the face but my eyes keep drifting down to the dagger. It's not attached by a loop or anything so it'll slide out pretty easily. Thank god. The guard notices I'm acting strange because he looks at me with a puzzled expression.

"What's the matter with you." He says.

I shrug and say back, "What's the matter with you?"

He crouches down to my eye level and takes my face in his hand, squeezing my cheeks slightly.

"So wasteful. Such a pretty face." He says and squeezes my face a bit more. It starts to hurt so I try to shake his grasp unsuccessfully.

"At least we had some fun together. Fancy some more f-"

"Hey!" Cato yells.

"Get away from my girl."

The guard gets up and turns to face Cato.

"Excuse me?" He says.

"You heard me. She's my girl, get off of her." The guard starts laughing.

Now is my chance. I get up on my knees and reach for the dagger sitting in his belt. My fingers just brush it when the guards turn around. I quickly sit back down on my knees with my cuffed hands in my lap.

"I don't care whose girl she is." He turns back to Cato.

"No one talks to me like that."

I reach up again, grab the dagger and yank it out of his belt. Quickly I put it under my legs. The guard gets his taser out and starts closing in on Cato. He's about to electrocute him when a group of people poke their heads round the door.

"Come one, we need as many as we can get!" One doctor says and rejoins the group. The guard huffs, shoves the taser in his pocket and points his finger at Cato.

"You better watch out." He says as he walks out. The door remains open, thank god. Because it would have been an impossible task to try and get the key.

"Great job." I say to Cato as I get the knife out of under my legs.

"Yeah, you too." He says.

I quickly saw through the small chain connecting my two handcuffs. The flow of people doesn't stop outside the room and I'm surprised no on has shut this door. They all seem pre occupied and concerned about something else because they are running.

"Hurry up!" Cato says.

"I'm trying!" I say. It's quite had to get through this. The knife keeps slipping to a different position on the chain. Finally I make a little dent and wedge the dagger in there. At least it stops the sliding.

"Come on!" Cato nearly yells.

"Just be patient!" I say.

"If you don't hurry up someone's going to come in!" He says again.

I saw quicker and after a while the chain brakes in half. The bug chain then slides off and I move my arms around.

"I did it!" I say excitedly. I run over to Cato and hug him. It feels so good to touch him after all this time. I don't ever want to let go. But I have to when he pushes me off of him.

"Give me the dagger." He says but I hold it protectively.

"No, I'm going to do it." I say and grab his handcuffs and start sawing through the chain. I'm full of adrenaline, fear and excitement. Finally we may actually get out of here!

This time it doesn't take so long and when the chain snaps Cato jumps up and gives me a big hug. He then grabs my waist and kisses me like he always does, so that my back arches. But this time it's softer. Less aggressive. We pull apart and quickly make our way to the door. The flow of people has stopped now so we ca run out at any moment really. I peak my head round the door and see a doctor standing down the hallway. He is quite far away but I don't want to risk getting caught.

"Let go." Cato says grabbing my arm.

"Wait! There's someone down the hallway." I say.

Cato peers round the door and turns back to me laughing.

'"I can barley make out if that's a person or not! They'll never see us!"

"But I don't want to risk anything!" I say.

"If we don't go soon more peacekeepers are going to start to running down the hall again of someone is going to come in here to torture us more, do you want that?" He sighs.

"No." I say and let him drag me out of the door.

Slowly we exit the room. I look back at it for a minute and see the dried blood that is absolutely everywhere. I didn't notice but I was lying in a huge pool of it this whole time, and so was Cato. The two chains lay on the ground attached to the blood stained pillars. This truly was a place of misery.

"Come on." Cato says pulling me down the hall. It is a long white corridor with nothing but a few doors either side. It is very long. There is no one to be seen. We start walking then pick up into a run. We run all the way down the long corridor and turn a sharp corner to find another corridor identical to the first one. We run down this as well. I hear a voice from behind me and look over my shoulder to see two peacekeepers. They don't notice us but I get scared.

"Peacekeepers!" I say to Cato and we run faster and faster.

Finally we reach a large door at the end of the corridor. We don't waste anytime catching our breath and push it open. It quite literally nearly flies off when it opens and I'm nearly blown back off my feet because of the crazy wind outside. Things are flying around in the air, trees are close to blowing over and even some small buildings are actually shaking. We get storms here a lot and hurricanes are common. But never have I seen this much wind. The ones we get usually cause slight damage to trees or un sturdy houses by this looks like it can do a damage to even the nut. I hear the yells of peacekeepers coming from down the hall. I guess they were all so pre occupied because of this storm. The voices get louder. I grab Cato's hand, take a deep breath and step out into the whipping wind. From one hell to another.


	7. Chapter 7

I can barley walk. The wind is pushing side ways against us so hard that we both end up falling and tumbling into the side of a building. We get up and try to walk faster through it. It doesn't help that the dried mud from beneath our feet is creating a sand storm. The mud starts fly around us and I close my eyes as not to get any in them. There are also leaves and branches flying around and I think something hits Cato because I hear him yell out. I open my eyes to see what happened as find he is bleeding form his nose.

"What happened?" I yell above the howling wind.

"I don't know!" He yells back.

I clutch his arm for dear life as we battle against the wind. I see a group of people up ahead in normal clothes rushing into a large building.

"Cato! Over there!" I say pointing in that direction.

We head towards the building because there must be a safe house or shelter in there if it is attracting such a big group.

We get to the building and step inside. There is a large group of people filing down a staircase. We have hurricane drills regularly at school and one of the most important rules is to always stay near low ground. We wait in the bustling queue of people to get down the stairs. People are pushing each other and lots push in front of us, so we push back and finally get to the top of the steps.

Just as we are about to descend, I hear a scream from above. I turn around and lift my head to see a little girl crying a few floors up trying to rip her way away from a banister that she has somehow manage to get her arm stuck in between. She looks about seven and is crying for help. No one takes any notice of her. Doesn't she have a mother or someone that can help her? No one comes to her rescue despite her painful cries.

"Get down the bloody stairs!" Cato says pulling me down towards him, but I resist.

"We have to help that little girl!" I say and start running back up onto the ground level and then up the stairs leading to the higher floors.

"Clove!" Cato yells and chases after me.

The girl is about four floors up and when I finally find her Cato is behind me as well, grabbing my arm.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" He says but I just ignore his question.

"Help me get her arm out!" I say and grab the little girls hand.

Her arms twisted in between the gaps in the banister and I think by the angle it is twisted at, she may have broken it.

I pull on it a little bit and she screams in pain.

"It's ok. I'm going to get you out." I say trying to sound calm.

"Thank you." She says and her voice is trembling. I try to slide her arm out by moving it sideways a little bit but it doesn't work and she just ends up screaming more. Cato comes around behind me and tries to move the little girl so it won't hurt as much when I try to move her arm. It's really stuck in there.

"How did this happen?" I say to her.

She's sniffling but manages to get words out.

"I w-went up to… get this and I fell running down and it nearly went over s-s-so I caught it but g-got… got…got stuck!"

I look at what she is holding up in her other hand. It is a photo of a man and a woman holding hands. I wonder if that's her parents and if the reason no one came to help her was because she has no one.

"What's your name?" I ask.

"Caelia." She says.

"Well, don't worry `Caelia we'll get you out of here." I say and pull lightly on her arm again. It starts to slide out a bit.

"Here we go!" I say in the most excited voice I can.

Suddenly the whole building begins to shake and I stop what I'm doing. I can feel it shaking faster and just as I think the building is going to collapse down a massive tree the size of the justice building comes crashing through the walls behind us and breaks the whole building in half.

Caelia screams and I grab onto Cato. The building starts to shake more and then I feel a slight tilt. We are falling forward. I clench Cato's arm and my nails dig into his skin as the ground gets closer and closer but slowly.

"Jump!" Cato yells.

"What?" I yell back.

"JUMP!"

I grab Caelia's arm and turn to her.

"We are going to jump, okay? Don't worry." I say to her.

She is crying still. "Jump?"

I nod and squeeze her hand tightly.

"THREE…TWO…ONE…JUMP!"  
Cato yells and jumps off the building taking Caelia and I with him. For a split second I'm in free fall, anticipating the impact of the ground, and all of a sudden I'm snapped back and am dangling in mid air with the weight of Cato pulling on me.

I look up to see what's going on and find Caelia dangling too, her arm still lodged in between the banister. It looks painful and her elbow is now the thing stopping her from falling. Her blood curdling screams indicate that it is painful.

I don't know what to do! I can't let go and let her get crushed by the building but I don't want to get crushed either and that's sure to happen if I don't let go soon. The ground is getting closer and faster now. We are about 40ft from the ground and we start falling really fast. I let go of Caelia's arm and fall. I land on my front. The ground hits with such impact I can't breath for a moment. I start to take breaths but every time I try it feels like something is clogged in my windpipe, stopping me from breathing. I turn over on my back to try and get more air and see the building we were just in descending on me. Out of the corner of my eye I see Caelia still dangling and screaming as the building crumbles onto the ground, onto me. I put my arms in front of my face to try and shield my self.

Huge bits of wood and furniture and glass crash into me and the force of the falling building seems to push me back. Something smashes right against my head and knocks me back onto my front. I try to crawl away but all I see surrounding me is shattered everything. I think a mirror or sheet of glass crashes on top of me because I hear the smash and feel tiny shards sting my skin. I then see the million pieces of glass all around me. I turn around back onto my back and see the building crushed and sprawled everywhere. I feel a strong force pulling me away. I'm dragged along the floor for a while, through the maze of rubble and broken everything. Then I'm on my feet looking right at Cato's face.

"You okay?" He says shaking me a little bit.

I nod. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Okay then where is our-" he's cut off by Caelia's screaming.

I turn around to go back to the broken building to search for her and help her but Cato grabs my arm.

"Clove, we can't get caught!" He yells, pulling me away from the site of the destruction.

"But we have to help her!" I say struggling against him.

"No! Peacekeepers will see what happened and help her!" He says but I'm not convinced. I try to go back to help her but Cato is so strong that it's pointless even trying.

I stop struggling when we are far away from the destruction and I know I can't help her.

"Where do we go now?" I say.

"Shelter at home!" Cato says.

The wind hasn't stopped and I think I preferred sitting on the ground to standing because I wasn't at constant risk of being knocked over by the wind.

"Okay!" I yell back and we start walking in the general direction of our homes. We live on the same street.

We walk/run/fall for a while. The wind is now pushing us forward so we walk faster then when we were battling against it. We trip over our feet and the branches on the floor a couple of times. A large door that must have been blown off it's hinges comes flying towards us and nearly knocks us over. Other then that, we are covering good ground, and then I start to hear a rumbling in the distance behind us.

"Can you hear that?" I say, stopping Cato.

He holds his ear to the direction of the noise and nods.

"What is it?"  
I shrug. "No idea." I say.

Almost a second later the biggest wave I've ever seen in my life comes racing towards us. Sometimes when there are hurricanes the houses on the waterfront get hit by water but never here, the center of the district, gets affected by it. It swallows everything in it's path; trees, buildings, cars even people. There is a large group of people running away from it and towards us. We start running. Cato and I grab hands and run faster than I think I've ever run in my life. The wind pushing against us makes it a bit harder but we still don't stop. The wave is catching up with us. It curves over so high, about 1600ft and is threatening to crash.

It doesn't though and it seems like it is waiting for us to be closer to crash. I can see the barbed fence that signals the district boundary. Only woods lie behind that fence, woods that we are forbidden to enter. We crash into the fence along with a number of people. I hold onto it with one hand and Cato's with the other. The wave is coming fast and there is no way over this fence. It's impossible to climb. Some people are trying and it's just hopeless. Cato grabs my face and tries to calm me down. I realize I'm hyperventilating because drowning is something I fear.

"Clove. Listen to me. Take a deep breath before the wave hits. Then try and grab onto anything you can. Okay?!" He says as calmly as he can but is panting from running.

"Okay!" I yell.

He then grabs a pair of handcuffs out of his back pocket and slaps one round my wrist and the other round his.

"So we stay together." He says.

"Where did you get them from?!" I ask.

"They were hanging off the door to our cell when we escaped," he says, "thought they might come in handy."

I'm glad he took them because now I won't loose him at least.

I squeeze my eyes shut and take a big breath…

The wave crashes and I'm underwater, being pressed with a lot of force against the wire fence. It feels as though it's trying to push me through it and I feel like I'm going to pop out the other side in tiny cubes from the fence stencil. I feel myself slipping upwards and the sharpness of the barbed wire scratches my skin. My free hand is still clenched to the fence but it is slipping. My fingers let go of it and I spin. Around and around in the water. I want air desperately but every time I think I'm above water and take a small breath water fills up my mouth and I choke. Something hits my legs and I scream. Something else hits my head. I open my eyes quickly and see nothing. Murky brown/beige water surrounds me. Something comes at me as if out of nowhere and a big branch hits me right in the face. I shut my eyes and bump into something. Things keep hitting me and scraping me and I feel so faint and ready to die when, I feel myself being lifted out of the water. I cough and choke and splutter all over the place and open my eyes to see Cato doing the same but holding onto a branch. I throw my right arm around the branch and cling on. His face is bleeding. The branch seems to be wedge between two trees and is therefore keeping us in the same place. The water is rushing either side of us and it takes a lot of strength to hold on and not be swept away. All around me every thing is caught in the wave. It's like the whole district is being washed away.

"Clove, listen to me…" Cato says panting and coughing.

"Clove!" He yells and I realize I'm crying and trembling.

I turn to him and nod.

"Try to grab onto anything you can… when this branch brakes… okay?" He says.

I nod again and carry on crying. He then takes my cuffed hand in his and brings me closer to his face.

"We're going to be alright. I promise. You're going to be fine. I love you." He says.

"I… Cato…I-I love-" Suddenly the branch start to move to the left and I feel myself being carried away.

"CATO!" I scream and am spinning in the water again. I feel myself being dragged deeper down into the water when something, a tree I think, crashes between Cato and I, dragging us down. I try to swim to the surface but things keep hitting me. I'm whipped past a bunch of twigs and feel them open huge gases all over my body. I'm desperate for air again. Something big hits me and I grab onto it and try to climb on top of it to above water. I manage to poke my head out and gasp as the air enters my lungs, spluttering again. I see I'm holding onto a car. I try to lift my arm that Cato is attached to, to bring him above water as well, but can't. I pull with all my strength but he is caught on something I think.

"Cato!" I scream and try to pull him up but it's not working. He's probably gasping for air down there. I pull as hard as I can but my arm is still deep under the water.

"Get up here!" My other hand has a good grip on the car so I don't worry about letting go of it at this moment. All I want now is for Cato to be up her with me, breathing.

"Cato come on!" I pull once more and finally my arm is above water, but there is no Cato on the other side. The cuff that he was attached to has no hand in it and swings freely.

"Cato?" I yell.

"CATO! CATO WHERE ARE YOU?!" I start screaming.

I look around but can't see him, or anyone. All I see is water and broken buildings and trees.

"CATO!" I scream.

"CATO PLEASE!" I'm screaming on the car for a while, until a tree hits the car and sends it spinning around in circles, flinging me off back into the water. I'm in the murky water again and feel light headed. I've lost Cato. I'm drowning. I try to get up into the air again but a branch scrapes my stomach and I scream, taking in a mouthful of water. Something big then knocks me in the head and I stop struggling against the water and let my body be taken away with the harsh flow of the water. I want to cry but I'm underwater so my tears would just be lost. I stare at the brown water as bits of matter come flying at me from every direction, some hitting me some missing. The last thing I see is a beaten up sofa coming right at me, then everything goes black.


	8. Chapter 8

I wake up in a hospital bed. Doctors and nurses are bustling around me. I don't know where this hospital is but I know that I'm going to be sick. I sit up straight and vomit right on the bed and a nurse rushes over to me and holds a bowl to my mouth.

I want to ask her so many questions that she probably won't be able to answer so I start with an easy one.

"Where am I?" I say.

"You're at district two's central hospital. Many people have been evacuated here who suffered from the tsunami." She says, changing my blanket.

"But… I was drowning. So…why…why am I not dead?" I say.

She laughs a little.

"Evacuation teams were sent in. We found thousands injured. You were one of them." She says but that's not answering my question.

"But why am I not dead?" I say to her because I should be dead. I thought I died.

"We found you washed up in the mid forest where the water stopped. You were in critical conditions. You had lost a lot of blood so we had to pump some back into you. It might hurt moving to start with." She says. "Do you want to try to walk? Maybe we can go wash you up a little bit?"

"Okay." I say.

I sit up on my elbows and swing my legs around off the bed. The nurse then holds my arm and helps me stand up. It really hurts.

I wince with every step and we inch our way, slowly over to the bathroom. My whole body feels sore, tense and is stinging with every step I take.

"Well done sweetie." The nurse says to me.

We finally get to the bathroom and she helps me inside and shuts the door behind her. I turn around to see a mirror slewed on the wall. She helps me out of my hospital gown and puts it in the sink. I'm now standing in just my bra and underwear.

I look at my reflection in the mirror. The first word that pops into my head is disgusting.

My skin in red and scabby all over. The 2 that was carved into my side has a reddy yellow tint, and I think it may have got infected, as it looks a bit pussy. So does the line through my chest. There are bandages covering my thighs and arms. I lift them up slightly. My thighs are completely blue. It looks like rotting flesh and makes me sick to my stomach. The bruises are so big and go from deep purple at the top of my thighs to a lighter blue towards the bottom near my knee. These bruises are all over my arms as well. I notice a chunk of flesh the size of my hand has been taken out of my left leg and the skin is tight and inflamed all around it. A chunk has also been taken out of my left arm. There are bruises and scars and bloody marks and dents all over me.

I look back at the nurse.

"It's horrible." I say.

She holds both of my shoulders and stands next to me.

"Oh, no sweetie. You're beautiful."  
I give her a weak smile.

"We didn't want to touch those yet as any upset to them would cause more blood flow. We did, however ensure the infection was kept under control." She says pointing to the 2 and line carvings.

I don't know how that made me think of him but I suddenly remember.

"Where is Cato!" I shriek and almost fall over crying.

She catches me and holds me in place so I don't fall.

"What's wrong?" She says but I'm shaking too much to say anything.

"Sweet heart, where's who?"  
I open my mouth but every time I do I remember that awful feeling I felt when I pulled my arm up from the water and Cato wasn't there. I start hyperventilating again and can't stand properly. My knees are weak and the bruising on my thighs is so painful.

"Sweet-heart. Calm down." She says trying to get my breathing back to normal. I get it under control eventually.

I try to stand up straight and tuck my hair back, but my hands are shaking so much I just put them by my sides.

"Where…w-where is…where is…C-c…Cato?" I manage to get out.

"Who?" The nurse lady says.

I take a deep breath and compose myself.

"Where is Cato? My boyfriend." I say.

"I'm sorry sweet heart I don't know. What is his sur-name?"

"Hudley." I say.

She nods. "I-I can look on the system but I don't think we had a Cato Hudley evacuated to us. There were only about five males registered on our system any way and none of them were called Cato Hudley."

My hands begin to tremble again and I fall. This time she isn't fast enough to catch me and I'm lying on the floor in a teary huddle.

She tries to pick me up and take me back to my bed but I can't even find the strength to stand up. What if Cato is dead? He can't be. I can't have lost him. My Cato. Who I want to wrings neck sometimes but whom I love more than anything?

He isn't dead…can't be. I refuse to believe it.

But what if it's true? Then I've lost him. We put the handcuffs round us so we wouldn't loose each other and I lost him. The pain of a broken heart is worse then any of the bruising or cuts.

I lay there for a few minutes, crying in her arms on the floor, until there is a knock at the door. Someone carrying a hospital gown walks in, places it on the floor and walks back out.

The nurse goes over and picks the gown up.

"Come on sweetie. Lets put you in this and then take you back to your bed. Okay?"  
I nod and cooperate as she helps me up to my trembling legs and slowly and carefully, as not to hurt me pulls the gown over my head.

"Now. Shall we go back? I was going to give you a wash but maybe that can wait till later." She says.

I nod and we slowly make our way back to the hospital bed.

I sit straight up in the bed, thinking about Cato's deformed body hanging lifeless from a tree somewhere. His heart no longer beating, his skin turning pale and ice cold. The image flashes through my mind so many times that I can't bare it any more.

"Please put me out!" I say to the nurse.

"Excuse me?" She says.

"Give me some morphing or sleep syrup or anything I can't bare to be awake any more!" I say and start crying again.

The nurse looks very concerned and takes out a bottle of sleep syrup.

"I guess there's not much point in you being up any how if your in so much pain."  
She says and I nod quickly as she pours the syrup onto a spoon.

I open my mouth in anticipation and she puts the spoon inside. I then swallow every drop of it and lay my head on the pillow.

"I'm sorry Cato." I say aloud.

"I'm so sorry." We could have had a future together, maybe. Got married and had children. The thought of his makes me more upset so I decide to clear my mind of every thought. Just as I'm about to drift off I hear him saying my name, but I don't open my eyes because I know it's my imagination from the sleep syrup.

When I open my eyes I'm in the hospital bed. For a while I just stare at the ceiling dreading the pain and sorrow the day will bring. Maybe I will be taken back to the cell and tortured some more. Maybe I will just agree to participate in the games because what does it matter now. Maybe my family will come here and take me home. Maybe ill stay here with the nice nurse lady, crying while she consoles me. I don't know but I don't want to be awake. I wish the water drowned me. I wish it filled my whole body and suffocated me to the point of death. If only.

I hear shuffling next to me and know that it's the nurse. She was so kind to me and I was being so useless I hadn't even thanked her.

"Thank you for being so nice and helpful with me." I say to the ceiling, but am aiming it at her. She was very helpful yesterday and understanding and so nice. I feel bad I was being so weak.

"Since when am I nice to you?" A voice says from next to me, but it's not the nurse.

**Sorry guys this is a bit rushed I just had a short time to finish it!**

I turn my head slightly prepared to be though roughly disappointed but am completely surprised.

There, sitting on the chair beside my bed is Cato. My amazing boyfriend. He is dressed in the same hospital gown and has bandages and scars all over his body. I don't know if I'm dreaming or if I'm awake but he is here, and if I'm asleep or dead, or even alive I hope he never goes away.

I sit up straight as he takes me in for a huge hug. I cry into his shoulder, not caring how weak and emotionally unstable I'm being.

"You scared me to death! Don't you ever do that to me…never ever again!" I say between the sobs.

I thought my life was ruined by Cato, which it was in a way. But I now also realize that it would be ruined if he left it. I need him and despite the arguing and threats that aren't always empty, after all we've been through I now know that he is my life. If he left it, it would be over.

"I won't." He says.

"I love you!" I say.

In a funny way, I guess, my life is ruined with him or without him. I'd much rather it be ruined with him in it.

THE END


End file.
